When the European Golden Boot is mentioned, the first players who come to mind are Messi and Ronaldo. However, at the moment, in this current season neither of those players are near the top of the list. First, with 13 goals for Bayern Munich, there is the Polish sensation, Robert Lewandowski. Then, scoring 11 of Dortmund’s 65 goals this season is Pierre Aubameyang. Finally, tied for third place with Bayern’s Muller, there is… Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy.
As remarkable as Vardy’s placement in the top 3 for the golden boot, is the striker’s season. Having had scored in each of his seven previous matches, he looks set to score once more, as Leicester City take on West Brom. The current record for the number of consecutive games in which a Premier League player scores is held by ex-Manchester United player, Ruud Van Nistelrooy with 10 goals in 10 matches in 2003. Despite needing to score in three more matches in order to tie the remarkable record, Vardy must only score once to become on of the top three record holders (Sturridge 8, Van Nistelrooy 10).
The question remains: how has Vardy slipped into this form, virtually unnoticed, powering a club which often fights in order to avoid relegation, and put them into 5th place in the Premier League? In order to find out the answer to the question, Marc Vitenzon at MyWeeklySports looks back at his roots.
The truth is, Jamie Vardy has been through it all. His career is truly the epitome of the ‘rags to riches’ phenomenon. Jamie Vardy’s first youth club was Sheffield Wednesday. Despite the fact that Sheffield Wednesday is not a famous team nowadays, it definitely has had its fair share of victories and trophies in the past. However, Jamie Vardy was released from the academy at the age of 16.
In 2011-2012 Vardy signed with Fleetwood Town – a team which played in the Conference Premier(3rd division in England). From there Vardy’s career took off. Vardy scored 6 goals in 6 games at one point in the season, scoring two of those goals in the FA Cup. He went on to score an astonishing 34 goals in 40 matches for Fleetwood, winning them the Conference Premier title and the promotion.
At the start of the 2012-2013 season, Vardy signed for a fee of 1 million pounds to Leicester City, who were still playing second division English football. To Leicester’s worry, however, Vardy lost form. Having scored only 5 goals in 26 matches, Vardy began receiving heavy criticism from the media and the fans. At the end of the season, he decided to give up football. Fortunately, however, the managing staff at Leicester convinced him otherwise.
The following season, Vardy made his return. Scoring 16 goals in 45 Appearances for Leicester, he helped them secure the position at the top of the table. Sending them to the Premier League. That season Vardy was shown appreciation when he was selected Leicester’s Player of the Year. From this season Vardy went on to establish himself as a key player for Leicester City.
The key question remains: can Vardy sustain form? Will be a one-season-wonder like Harry Kane, or will he be consistent. Of, course he is not going to continue scoring consecutively, but it will be interesting to see how long he can keep going. If Vardy can keep his form, it is very unlikely that he will find himself at Leicester City next season.